1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to satellite receivers for television signals and, in particular, to the back-up of information contained in the memory associated with the satellite receiver and the loading of information in the satellite receiver's memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, television signals are transmitted from one earth location to another earth location via geostationary satellites that all orbit in a defined belt and with a defined altitude above the earth. (Television signals are also transmitted by satellites that are in polar and inclined orbits.) At substantially any location in the continental United States, the television signals from approximately ten geostationary satellites, which each provide twenty-four television channels, can be received. While the geostationary satellites exist in a defined belt over the earth, the position of the belt or arc, and hence each satellite, varies according to one's location. For example, if the geostationary satellites were all to orbit at a specified altitude over the equator, then the altitude of the belt, as one moves north or south in latitude, would decrease with respect to the latitudinal horizon.
The typical home system for receiving satellite television signals includes a dish antenna whose position can be altered to receive television signals from a selected one of the plurality of geostationary satellites whose signals are accessible from the antenna's location. Further included in the typical home system for receiving satellite television signals is a satellite receiver, which is sometimes referred to as integrated receiver descrambler (IRD). The satellite receiver includes the componentry for controlling the position of the antenna so that a selected television signal can be received from the appropriate one of the plurality of geostationary satellites. The satellite receiver also includes circuitry for processing the received signal, i.e., descrambling, filtering, and otherwise conditioning the received signal, and then providing the post-processed signal to the user's television.
As previously mentioned, the position of the belt or arc within which the geostationary satellites exist relative to a particular location varies with the location. (A similar situation exists for satellites in polar and inclined orbits. ) Consequently, when a satellite receiver system is installed, the locations of the geostationary satellites must be programmed or otherwise taught to the satellite receiver so that the receiver can position the antenna to receive the television signals provided by each of the geostationary satellites. It is not uncommon for the programming of a satellite receiver with the locations of the accessible geostationary satellites to require half an hour of time.
Presently, it is quite common to occasionally lose the satellite position information that has been programmed into a satellite receiver due to, for example, a loss of power. As a consequence, the satellite receiver must be reprogrammed. This can be quite time consuming, especially if the locations of several satellites must be reprogrammed into the satellite receiver.
This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that many satellite receivers allow the user or the installer to program the receiver to perform other functions besides positioning the antenna. For example, some satellite receivers allow the user to program the receiver with the necessary information to position the antenna to receive the user's favorite television broadcast and the optimized polarizer settings for all satellites and channels. This information, like the satellite's position, must be reprogrammed if it is lost due to a power failure or some other catastrophe.
Another problem with present satellite receivers is that updating the receiver's memory with, for example, new software programs that implement new features typically requires opening the receiver's casing and swapping the old memory chips for new memory chips that contain the new software programs. This can be very time consuming and, in many instances, this or some other updating operation requires the user to return the receiver to the manufacturer, dealer, or installer, thereby depriving the user their satellite system for a considerable amount of time.